Bad Turian
by AwesomeLass
Summary: He got just close enough to grab her arm before she could reach the request button. "Shepard." When she spun around to face him, her features showed something familiar, something like he had felt all night. Surprise. Garrus could tell himself it was hunger, but he could feel it in the pit of his stomach and all through him that he was just about to do something very stupid. -F!SxGV
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Alternating POV between Civilian Shepard and Garrus Vakarian. Sorry for crappy quality, just trying to get my fiction "voice" back.**

Chapter One: Incorrigible Aliens

Doctor Chloe Michel had spent the greater part of Arin Shepard's shift in the backroom performing surgery with the aid of a bot. That left Arin to tend to the other patients of the doctor's clinic. By all means not a big or horribly challenging feat, but the Upper Wards had loads of people in dire need of cheap medical care- especially during standard-day weekends. Many of such people had an almost innate suspicion of others, which, at least in the eyes of Arin Shepard, was understandable given the corruption of this area of the Citadel.

Sometimes, however, their distrust caused her more headaches than she had the patience for. At present, this particular volus was making her life more difficult than need be.

"But-_cgfhhh-_ my suit released the Medi-gel, -_cgfhhh- _why should I have to purchase– "

"Like I said," Arin began, "my omni-tool shows there was a lag between when you fell on the hook and by the time your suit registered the rupture and released the Medi-gel. Enough of a delay to cause an infection to spread. You _will _need antibiotics."

"-_Cgfhhh-_ but the Medi-gel was released."

"Look, there was a lag. You have an infection. You can either take my word for it, or you can leave and come back after a few days to tell me just how wrong I was. If you're still alive by then."

"-_Cgfhhh_-" The round alien took a deep breath. "-_Cgfhhh_- Fine, Earth-clan. How much? -_cgfhhh- _"

Whenever she was busy, the doctor had deferred to Arin to make a judgment on whether the patient should be given free aid or be charged. Whilst Arin had always been a keen judge of character, it was the doctor that guided her through the finer points in observation. In this case, the severely outdated system in the volus' suit and the old suit itself gave the young nurse the direction she needed. "I have samples of the antibiotic you need here," Arin said, handing over a few small packets. "We should be getting more by the time you run out. Take one a day with a meal. I'll ping you when we get more in."

"-_Cgfhhh_- Thank you, Earth-clan," the volus reluctantly said before leaving.

As she washed and disinfected her hands, Arin thought how much more stressful the doctor seemed lately. Sometimes, she felt sorry for Doctor Michel, so she stayed to help out, fully knowing that she couldn't be paid for any overtime she did. Since both the young women's respective sets of parents were involved with and met through the Alliance, Arin had heard of Dr. Michel's generosity that way. She had never expected the doctor to jump through so many hoops and deal with so much crap just to help others (even those who weren't grateful), until the doctor offered her a place in her clinic. Working with her was certainly a reward in itself.

Although she couldn't wait to save enough money to leave the citadel in search of her dreams, Arin was still appreciative for the experience, and the doctor had restored her faith in… humanity? Well, people, in general. But days like these, where her hours broke way past her shift, she really had to cling to that faith in order to not take off running. Thankfully, the volus was the last in a long line without the doctor's help.

Arin grinned, maybe today she could get out of the clinic in time before her favorite restaurant closed shop, but her smile faded when she heard the door slide open. She sighed; it was very late as it was, and whenever a patient came in this late, it meant there was probably a violent wound to take care of. She walked to the front without paying attention to whoever had come through the door yet, instead, choosing to ready her omni-tool scanner and slapping on a fresh pair of gloves.

"Hello," the nurse said as she adjusted one of her gloves. "The doctor is unavailable at the moment, but I'll be more than happy to assist you. How can I—" It was only then that she looked up to see a turian holding a bloody human by the scruff of his shirt. The human had a black rag tied around his head over his eyes, and another one on his mouth, as a sort of make-shift gag. The poor man had his arms restrained and his shoulder was covered in boiled burns. "Oh my goodness!" Arin rushed toward the man but before she could do anything, the turian yanked him back a little and put up a hand in the universal sign that meant stop.

"Where is the doctor?" he asked, his flanged voice stealing Arin's attention from the other man's burns.

"Doctor M—"

"_Don't _say her name," he said quickly, "there's a _reason_ why he's tied up like this."

"She's indisposed at the moment. But I can tend to him." Arin returned her attention to the patient, her urge to clean his wounds was gnawing at her.

"I need her… special services."

The human woman eyed the turian, only just noticing he resembled a turian that had been at the clinic before. Yes; there was no way she could ever forget those eyes. She remembered him entering through the back, then. It had been near the end of her shift during one of her first days at the clinic, he had arrived with another turian holding his face but as soon as she had spotted the two, the doctor had turned her lose, telling her to take off early. It was the same turian from that night, she was certain.

The man beside the turian moaned in pain, snapping her out of her daze. "She's in the middle of surgery and _cannot _be disturbed," she said and grabbed hold of the injured man's arm and led him to one of the medical beds. "I need to look at his shoulder."

"And _I_ need the doctor to take care of this."

Arin sighed, doing her best to breathe out all of her frustration and breathe in calm. "Look, she can't come out and this man needs help." She prepared her omni-tool to scan for any allergies or any graver injuries that weren't visible, but the turian disabled her scan with his own omni-tool. The nerve of him!

"The doctor typically doesn't use her omni-tool for the people I bring in."

Arin wondered what that meant, and a flood of worrisome thoughts filled her mind. "I'm only a nurse, I… I need to do a scan."

His mandibles twitched for a second. Maybe he would see reason. "Just do what you can without it, please." Well, at least he compromised.

Still, she should have asked him questions, insist on knowing what in the hell he was up to, and voice her opinion that he may get the doctor in trouble. More than anything though, she wanted to patch the bloody man before her. "I'm going to cut your shirt," she explained to him, "so I can fix your burns." As she cut, she braved a short glance at the turian only to catch him staring at her with those dangerous predatory eyes of his. She had never been one to adopt xenophobic views or ideals, but there was no denying that turians were slightly unnerving to her for some reason. She prepared gauze with an abrasion cleanser. "This is going to hurt, but it's for your own good." Arin did her best to ignore the moans and pleas of the man, and tried to hold his arm steady at the same time; but during a particularly nasty, and by the sounds of it, painful moment in which she had to peel a piece of melted fabric from his skin, she couldn't keep her mouth shut. "Did you do this to him?" It wasn't an inquiry. It was a demand to know. One he had better answer.

The proximity between her and the turian allowed her to hear the vibrations of his timber before he spoke, reminiscent of when her parents were hesitant to say something. "That? No. That one is all on him." She wanted to believe him, but that damn smug look of his didn't help.

Arin glared at him wanting to know more, but for his part, the turian held her gaze not intimidated in the least. Just then, Doctor Michel came from the backroom where they performed the more serious surgeries and was in the middle of throwing away her disposable scrubs when she spotted the turian. "Garrus," she greeted him with a wide smile.

"Doctor," he replied, baring his teeth as the turian equivalent of a grin .

"Let's see 'ere," the doctor said after cleansing her hands and replacing her gloves with fresh ones. "What do we 'ave?" Arin stepped aside whilst the doctor examined the man's facial injuries; Doctor Michel removed the gag, which the man took as an opportunity to curse the turian for being many a great horrible things, and she slipped her fingers under the cloth covering his eyes. She felt around his eyes and now and then asked if it hurt and to what scale. Satisfied with what she'd found out, the doctor snapped her gloves off and stepped back. "You may continue," she said to Arin.

"Yes, doctor." The nurse was surprised that her boss would allow her to continue to treat the serious burns, but then maybe she was tired from the surgery. With or without the aid of robotics, surgery still took a lot out of a doctor.

For her part, Doctor Chloe Michel must have sensed her nurse's hesitation. "You're doing just fine," she assured her before turning toward the turian. "'E doesn't seem to 'ave any fractures. When she 'as finished I will check 'is abdomen."

"Thank you, doctor."

As Arin scrubbed the burns, a necessary duty she would much rather fall on the doctor's lap, the man screamed and shrieked. She could see tears escaping the bondage of his eyes. "Please! Just stop!" the man begged. Surprised, Arin stopped for a moment and looked to the doctor for answers, but her eyes were fixed coldly on the man. The nurse went in to continue cleaning, but the second she made contact with his skin, he scream again. "Please, I already told you what I know, man."

"I know," the turian replied, just as icy as his blue eyes. "Otherwise I would have taken you straight to C-Sec and you would be in more pain than you're already in." C-Sec? For the first time, the nurse looked at what the turian was wearing, noting the famous black and blue armor only now. Arin wasn't one to be lead by stereotypes, but just then, she really did wonder whether all the damn cops in the galaxy universally corrupt.

The man moaned in resignation, and Arin went back to work. "What 'appened, Garrus?" the doctor asked. "The burns aren't your style."

"You're right, but apparently, they're his. Our friend here didn't feel like cooperating, but instead of running like all the others, he thought he could turn his soldering gun against me. Not a smart man."

"Indeed," the doctor agreed with glee, a rare thing to see after such a long shift. It sent shivers down Arin's spine to see the doctor react like that. After Arin finished applying a generous amount of Medi-gel and bandaging him up, the doctor took over and handed Garrus a few boxes of Medi-gel infused bandages and painkillers, giving the man instructions as she did so.

When the doctor finished speaking, the turian triggered his omni-tool and it quickly connected to the doctor's, causing hers to activate in turn. It wasn't unusual for a paying client initiate the connection, what caught Arin's attention was the fact that there was no exchange of words as the transaction went through, no question as to how many credits the bill was, nothing. On top of that, most people that _did_ pay generally used credit chits to do so.

"Thank you, doctor."

"You gonna book me know?" the man asked before Doctor Michel could reply to the turian.

"No," the officer said, pulling the man in a standing position and walking out through the back, "you get a free pass this time. But if I hear you're dealing with that batarian ring again, I'll make sure you get locked up for a _long_ time."

The two women remained silent for a moment and the quiet was enough to hear gentle shuffling in the back. The patient in the backroom was coming to and the doctor gave her nurse a small smile before heading to the operating room. After a little while, the patient followed the doctor out, wearing an old-fashioned cast around his arm and a smile across his face. Wait 'til the painkillers wear off, Arin thought darkly. She could hear the doctor tell him she'd set up payment plans, but urged him to pursue action against the man who sent him here. He'd been the victim of an enraged krogan, upset about something to do with a lack of fish in the Presidium, and the krogan didn't stick around long enough for C-Sec to come and assess the damage. At least the doctor was understandable.

"Don't worry about cleaning up," Doctor Michel said when the patient left. "You did well today, I am glad you 'ad a chance to practice without using an omni-tool, 'elpful as they may be."

Arin smiled at the doctor. "Thanks, but I can help finish up." They continued to work in silence, until the younger of the two could resist no more. "Doctor…" she began.

"Chloe is just fine, we are not on duty anymore."

"Chloe," Arin said, "The C-Sec turian, well, he wouldn't let me scan that man with him with my omni-tool… And in fact seemed very adamant about it and your _special_ services."

The doctor fell silent for a moment and Arin wondered if she'd stepped over. But surely, having let Arin stay and finish tending to the man, the doctor must have known the nurse would have questions about what happened earlier. "I am sure you've 'eard from your parents how I lost my position at the Davis-Mitch Hospital."

"Very little. Only that you were giving out medical supplies to people in need. An unfair reason, if you ask me."

The doctor mirrored Arin's smile, like she usually did whenever she was about to explain something important. "Never forget that hospitals are businesses too. I stepped over toes and crossed lines to do what I love: doing the right thing. But even 'ere, in outer space, rules are rules. I opened this clinic to run it as I please, but the Citadel is a vastly populated place, and that alone makes it dangerous. 'Ere in the Upper Wards, even more. It helps to have friends."

"It sounds dangerously close to the mafia's _'protection'_."

The doctor laughed. "No, no. It isn't like that at all. Now come on, I know neither of us took a lunch break today."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Smartass Nurse

Days had passed since Garrus made any rounds to Doctor Michel's clinic, and the human he had encountered just outside of the doctor's clinic during that last time claimed to be a friend of hers. A former colleague, he'd said when the turian questioned him. Yet, there was something about the man that rubbed Garrus the wrong way. So he had decided to wait and watch the man from afar, feeling something was amiss.

Soon enough, Doctor Michel came out to greet the other human. Working with so many humans and even having dealt with so many human perps during his career had its advantages: they were generally weaker than most turians and krogan and always more willing to share information. But for all the time he'd spent with humans, Garrus still had trouble discerning the species' body language if it wasn't obvious or basic.

Luckily for him, the doctor seemed to be very evidently uncomfortable, and as he neared his targets, looked to be almost on the verge of tears. "Doctor Michel," Garrus voiced once he was behind the man, "is everything alright?"

"You again. Everything's fine, turian, now leave. We're trying to have a private conversation." A rather odd thing to have in the middle of a busy sector.

"It's_ Officer_," Garrus corrected him, "and I didn't ask you. Doctor?"

The redhead didn't hesitate. "Everything is fine, thank you, I was just about to 'ave lunch with a friend." Garrus tensed his mandible, knowing full well the doctor understood alien cues better than almost any human he knew. He was showing her he didn't believe her. But without much else to go on, he let her go. That had been nearly five days ago.

He shouldn't have taken so long to check in on the doctor after that small encounter but with a new assignment from the higher-ups and a promotion in line, time flew from his grasp.

Had the sector been less crowded, he would have allowed himself a smile when he saw that the doctor's clinic was still open after his last visit. It wasn't often that doctors or people with businesses in the Upper Wards went 'missing' but it did happen now and then, and that would have been a nasty surprise all around.

He entered through the front as he brought up his omni-tool, a sign that many falsely took as if he was about to record and question someone. As soon as the doors shut behind, his omni-tool faded back into its nest.

A quick scan revealed nothing out of the ordinary, save that in place of the doctor was that human nurse of hers that he'd met some weeks ago.

He could see another human, female, talking to her, so he went around the partition to wait for her to be freed. "Thank you so much, my bondmate will be happy to learn it wasn't anything she did." The patient finally took her leave, but when she spotted Garrus, her face took on a pink tinge. "Oh! Excuse me," she said quickly as she exited.

Garrus waited for the nurse to finish cleaning the area, herself, and punching whatever information on a datapad when she took a seat. After a while, he was surprised she hadn't taken notice of him. Humans. She should have keener senses. What if he was up to no good? What then? It would be too late by the time she noticed.

"May I help you?" she asked dryly without taking her eyes off the datapad.

The turian cleared his throat as he walked up to the nurse's small desk. "Is Doctor Michel here?"

"No, you just missed her." With a metal clank, she set the hardfile down and looked up at him in one motion. "Why? Have any more poor souls that need to be tended for police brutality?"

The question took Garrus aback; as far as he knew, human females weren't so… so bold. "No, unfortunately." His mandibles would have flared in a boyish, proud smirk of sorts had the other person caught on to his sarcasm, but her glare gave away that his joke went right over her. Too bad; for the most part, a lot of humans seemed to appreciate his sense of humor, at least more so than most other turians. "I meant to say I haven't had the need to. And that _poor_ soul you're talking about has been involved with slavers and redsand dealers; I wouldn't feel too sorry for him." Maybe the man wasn't _closely_ involved with the big guys, but she didn't need to know that. He wasn't going to bare his teeth in a grin as a show of victory, but he crossed his arms expecting the human to concede.

Except her gaze was steady and unalarmed, like she imagined herself in the right. Typical stubborn human. "If he's guilty of all of that, then why _didn't_ you take him in?"

"Because there is always bigger, more dangerous pray to hunt, and if a little mouse can lead me to it if I spare his life, then that's worth it."

"I hope that isn't standard C-Sec policy." She held his stare for a moment like she was judging him before returning her attention to the formerly discarded datapad. "Doctor Michel isn't in and won't be back for at least half an hour. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"A few days ago there was a male here, human. Paying the doctor a friendly visit not a medical one. He took the doctor out to lunch. Has he been back?"

She raised a brow at him and the corners of her mouth curled up in what he could only guess was a mischievous fashion. "It is not my place to discuss the doctor's private life."

"You _do_ know I'm a C-Sec Officer, right?" This reminder usually managed to get most people to spill out answers.

"And if this was an actual investigation, I would be required to comply." She pressed her lips in a tight smile that looked unnatural on her plump mouth and Garrus was really not sure whether she was trying to joke or not. "As it is," the nurse went on, "this is _not_ an actual investigation _and_ I'm not very familiar with the doctor's private life." No. Not joking. And to make it worse, what she'd said was right. "Anything else I can help you with?" she asked as she resumed her task.

His mandibles widened into an unconscious smile; Garrus was amused, to say the least. He was used to xenophones and idiots giving him a hard time and this girl seemed like neither, but what was that human expression Baily was always using? Can't judge the cover on a book... A book by its cover… the pages… Something like that. He'd gotten the gist of it.

He was also annoyed; he usually could figure someone out very easily. Not her. "No, that's all, Miss…"

She looked up again and now he could see dark circles under her eyes- she didn't seem this tired last time he saw her but the marks were familiar to him. He'd seen them on Doctor Michel's eyes, Baily's and on a few other of his fellow officers when they were dead tired. His own pair flickered to her neck unintentionally, and once there, they followed a chain with dog tags hanging off it. The kind the human military wore. "_Shepard_," she said at last, her rigid tone bringing his eyes back to her face like a magnet.

"Are you Alliance?" he asked, more out of curiosity than any relevant thoughts.

"No. But my parents _are_, as are Doctor Michel's, and as was my brother." For a second, her hand flitted to the dog tags she was wearing, then left them as quickly as it had gotten there. Despite the sadness implied in her response, Garrus could tell her answer was a bit of a warning. He was by no means an expert when it came to humans, but he could easily spot defensiveness across any species. He would be no good to C-Sec if he couldn't.

Before he could say anything to her, however, his omni-tool pinged. It was a call from Pallin that he couldn't miss. Feeling a bit rushed and at a loss for words, he simply nodded and bid her a good day.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Disintegrating Delusions

"There's just something about him," Deela insisted. "Something about him feels off."

Arin stopped trying to manipulate her mane and turned to her best friend. She was grateful for all the support and advice Deela always seemed to have, but she wasn't ready to give up on Ethan just yet. She smiled at the asari and took her blue hands in her tanned ones. "I trust you, I do."

"Good."

"But," Arin continued.

"But?"

"But you're basing this on the one time you met him," the human argued.

The asari pursed her lips; she may only be 98 years old, but that was old enough to be able to decipher most people very accurately. "What about the time he showed up at my club?"

"You said you didn't talk to him, so technically speaking, it wasn't a meeting."

"Oh, please. He was at the next best thing to a strip club, doesn't that bother you?"

"Normally, hell yes it would've." Deela threw her hands up and mouthed a thank-you at Arin's words. "But I need to get used to the idea that I need to lower my expectations if I'm ever to find someone for good."

"Great. Just great. Now you're settling for someone." The asari sighed, giving up for the day. Instead, she stood and turned her friend around with her toward the mirror. Well, maybe she hadn't exactly given up. "You know, if I messed up your beautiful curls, it'd probably take you too long to fix them in time for your date."

"Oh, just try it," Arin warned, doing her best to hide a playful smile. "How are things with you and Tashia? Is she still set on the Commando thing?"

"Mhmm. Said she wants to travel and follow on her father's footsteps."

"And you said…"

"I'm just not ready for that. She was fine with it, said she was going to give me more time."

"Sounds like an eventual ultimatum," Arin said grimly.

"Yeah… I know. I know at the end of it all, she's going to end up going off to Illium or some place like that and I'm going to stay. But for now, I'll enjoy the time we have."

Arin scoffed. "No way I would be handling it as well as you are."

"Probably not," the asari laughed. "Humans are always so charged and violent with your emotions. I don't envy you. Besides, if we end up on bad terms, I'll just sleep with a drell to piss her off."

It had always seemed a little odd to Arin how each of the species considered each other aliens and yet managed to live in the Citadel like it wasn't a giant melting pot of sorts. That being said, she admired people like Deela, who was willing to look past someone's species in the ways of intimacy and in the face of hardships and stigmas that the rare cross-species relationships brought on. She couldn't imagine herself with anyone other than another human. As for Deela…

"A drell?"

"Yes. You've never met one?"

"I have. Their skin is so gritty… and they remind me of frogs."

"Frogs?"

"Nevermind. I doubt she'd care," Arin added before she had to explain what a frog was.

Deela snickered. "That's because you underestimate her hatred."

"Then you may as well go for an elcor," Arin joked, forcing Deela to give her a gentle push.

Arin's omni-tool pinged and she brought it up to see a message sent by Ethan. He was being help up at work and going to be a little late. A _little _late? It was close to an hour late _now_. She settled for assuming that being the requisitions officer for an Alliance ship required a little extra time and attention now and then, so she sent him a message telling him she'd wait for him.

Imagining what Deela would say about Ethan being late, Arin sat back at the restaurant they were supposed to meet and avoided any further thoughts on the subject. He'd show up. She hoped. This was her first time dating an Alliance man, having evaded doing so up until now. Family life was nothing less than chaotic when the heads of the family themselves were Alliance career, which made the military a part of the family. She had learned that the hard way; Alliance blood coursed through her veins, but it had never done anything good for her.

As Arin sat watching the passersby, she smiled to herself at the thought of what her brother would say if he knew the kind of person she'd been seeing. She amazed even herself when she finally gave in to Ethan.

Although… Now that she thought about it though, it wasn't a _real _shocker. He was good looking, tall, and most of all, persistent. Although the two were vaguely aware of each other through her brother, it had only been on Ethan's previous shore leave that they'd had their first date. This was their fourth, though it hardly felt like it because they had been so spaced out due to his work.

She tried to picture what a relationship would be with him… He treated her nicely enough when they actually saw each other and they had gotten along great so far. Even though she didn't feel much of a connection, there was still potential. Before she could analyze their disorderly romance any further, she spotted Ethan walking toward her still in his fatigues. Had she known this was going to be a super casual date she wouldn't have worn such tight-fitted pants and high heels.

Arin stood to greet him when he approached, and he gave her a peck on the cheek. She was immediately drawn to his smell… like that shoddy, watered down beer they sold at cheap bars. Maybe she shouldn't get mad at him for drinking on the job if his commanding officers didn't.

"Sorry I'm late, work issues. Had an order come in sooner than it was supposed to so I had to deal with that."

"Did the drinks help?" she heard herself ask.

Luckily didn't hear her because a salarian came to their table and asked for their drinks and orders. And as the salarian was taking Ethan's choice of drink, Arin's omni-tool pinged loudly. "And for you?" the salarian asked.

"Just water, please."

"We'll need some time to look at the menu," Ethan said without bothering to look at the waiter.

"I'll bring your drinks."

She shouldn't say anything else, this barely being their fourth date, but her curiosity needed to be satiated. "Ethan… have you—" Her omni-tool pinged loudly again, interrupting her question.

"I was thinking we could go see that Blasto movie after this… or maybe we could head back to your place."

She thought she'd be ready to take it one step further with Ethan, like he obviously seemed to be… but she… she just needed more time. More interaction. More chemistry. Arin's mouth opened to speak, but she had no answer to give him. Instead, she was saved by yet another ping on her omni-tool. Whoever had been trying to make contact with her had the best and worst timing. "Sorry," she said as she opened her omni-tool to change the volume settings. A quick peak at the main screen told her she had three messages from Deela, which was weird because the asari almost never had time to use her omni-tool at work.

"What do you say, huh?" Ethan pressed, giving her one of his sweet one-sided grins.

"I…"

"Here are your drinks," the salarian cut in before she could utter another word and set their drinks on the table. Thank goodness for that! "Have you decided what to order?"

"No. We _need_ _more_ _time_," her date insisted.

"Very well. I'll come back soon."

"We should look at the menu," she said as she began to browse the different dishes.

"Damn aliens," Ethan said, not bothering to see whether or not the salarian was out of earshot. "You'd think their time spent with humans would've taught them a thing or two about how to act properly. But no, they're just a bunch of rude assholes."

Arin scowled both at the light her omni-tool pulsed having received yet another message, and at how closely xenophobic Ethan was beginning to appear. Or maybe he was just an angry type of drunk. It was now or never. If she didn't ask him, her curiosity would never be satisfied, and he'd just end up asking _her_ a question she wasn't ready to answer. "Ethan…"

"And y'know what the worst part is? They think they're better than us," he scoffed.

"Ethan… have you been drinking?"

His eyes widened for a second and his face quickly distorted into something in between frustration and outrage. "What? No."

"I can smell it. From across the table."

"What? That? Oh—" her omni-tool lit up again, and despite being distracted at how ridiculous Ethan was becoming, she began to worry something might be up with Deela. "—Yeah, I had a beer earlier when I got the call that I had another shipment coming in 'cause it stressed me out. Even my senior officer joined in to help me unload a skytruck full of—"

"Have you decided what to order?" the salarian said. Had she not know better, Arin would have thought the salarian was using a tactical cloak like her brother's to appear out of nowhere.

"_Are you serious_?" Ethan reproached. Much to her disgust, in addition to everything else, Ethan's temper began to show. She would have tried to calm him had her omni-tool not lit up again.

Anxious, she had to find out what was going on with Deela. When she brought her omni-tool back to life, she began to read Deela's messages, even as Ethan tried to reprimand the waiter on proper etiquette.

'_7:46PM SCT Deela T'Messi: Arin your boyfriend is a pig. Please ditch him. I'll explain later.'_

_ '7:52PM SCT Deela T'Messi: Arin he was here just a little bit ago. Okay? He was getting a _**very** _nice and personal lap dance and drinking with his boys.'_

_ '7:54PM SCT Deela T'Messi: I'm going to get in trouble if I keep messaging you. Just. Trust me. Please.'_

_ '7:56PM SCT Deela T'Messi: Arin Shepard. At least reply! Tell me you left the jerk. _

_ '8:00PM SCT Deela T'Messi: Oh you better be reading these or I'm going to kill you.'_

"You know what," Arin snapped, gaining both the salarian and her date's attention with her voice, "I'm sorry for wasting your time, sir; we will not be ordering anything today. As for you, Ethan, I just hope you enjoyed yourself at Chora's Den. Hell, you're not even worth getting mad at." She laughed and strode to the nearest skycab stand.

"Arin!"

Arin felt her anger and regret fill her with each step she took. She had been so stupid. So blind. She may be no prize, but she deserved happiness. A jerk like Ethan wasn't going to cut it. She was through with lowering her expectations. It had been a bad idea from the start, just like Deela cautioned.

"Arin, wait, damn it!"

Even if Ethan wasn't a gentlemen's club kind of guy and even if he wasn't a sleazy liar, Arin was thoroughly appalled, even revolted at the way he treated the salarian. Ugh! But it wasn't just the salarian. She played back small little memories of things he had mentioned that she so inanely dismissed as anything but xenophobic.

She hit the red light of the skycab request stand and just as it turned green, Arin felt fingers dig into her arm as she was pulled back with such force that she very nearly lost her balance. "The hell's the matter with you?!" Ethan's voice boomed behind her.

Having just regained her balance, she was acting purely on instinct; as Ethan turned her to face him, the hilt of her palm effectively connected with his upper stomach. She had successfully knocked the wind out of him just like her brother had taught her in his little self-defense lessons when she first started dating. Maybe Ethan hadn't exactly deserved it, but he wouldn't be trying to catch his breath had he behaved like the proper _human_ being he'd had just been preaching about. She heard the throttle of a skycar behind her, and without another look to her date or the few people that were watching, she climbed in.

_'8:11PM SCT Arin Shepard: Hey. Ditched him. Should have listened to you… I'm sorry.'_

_ '8:13PM SCT Deela T'Messi: You okay?'_

_ '8:14PM SCT Arin Shepard: Hah- you should ask him that.'_

_ '8:16PM SCT Deela T'Messi: That's my girl! So where are you right now?'_

_ '8:16PM SCT Arin Shepard: Parked outside the closest bar I could find.'_

_ '8:20PM SCT Deela T'Messi: Just come to Chora's Den, have a few while I'll try to get off early and then we can go to Purgatory. Yeah?'_

_ '8:20PM SCT Arin Shepard: No need to tell me twice. I'll be there.'_

Arin set the cab down on the skycar lot and did her best to regain some composure when the airlocked doors propped themselves open. Instead of getting out, however, she burst into tears without warning, feeling the weight of the galaxy on her shoulders. It wasn't Ethan she was crying about, or even any one specific thing. It was everything and nothing. Her mother and father had already started their careers by the time they were her age, and her brother had gotten his entire life together even before that. What was _she_ doing with her life? She was _nothing _but a nurse— she was _nothing _compared to him. And after everything he sacrificed for her… She swallowed hard before her sobbing became worse and decided that instead of feeling like a waste, her brother would have taken her out to get wasted after talking her up. So that's what she was going to do.

The familiar sights in Chora's Den took very little time to get used to; it was the aroma that she found more offensive. Though tonight the place seemed to have a lot less krogan than it usually did, the species had a rather _distinct_ smell that tended to inhabit compact spaces. Ignoring this, Arin grabbed a seat at the bar and returned the smile of the bartender who was filling a glass with some astonishingly bright green liquid.

"I'll have an Irish whiskey, neat," she said to the bartender when she got to her. "Deela!" Arin gasped just a hint as a pair of skinny blue arms wrapped themselves across her shoulders into a hug from behind. "You sure you won't get in trouble with Fist?"

"I doubt it. He knows I put on a good show," Deela said as she came around Arin's side. "How do you feel?"

She thought her answer over as the bartender settled her drink. "Fine actually," she concluded. "You were right about everything, but we'll talk later. I just hope Ethan doesn't end up showing his face around while I'm here."

"Don't worry, if he does, I'll just have one of our krogan throw him out," she promised. Satisfied for the time being, Deela left her friend to her drink.

For her part, Arin downed her whiskey like a pro, which the bartender was quick to replace. She brought up her omni-tool after a while to help pass the time. No messages from Ethan. Surprise, surprise. When her new drink came, Arin resolved to quit thinking about today, though it proved to be harder than she had envisioned. Instead, her mind was invaded by thoughts and memories of all the guys she had ever dated. They haunted her like those damned mosquitoes back when her family was briefly stationed on Earth.

But just like mosquitoes, those memories were pests, too. "I'll have another," she said to the bartender when she got close again, "and make it a double, please." It was time to change that. If she was to make her brother's sacrifice worth anything, she wanted to make memories worth remembering.

"I see you're getting started for tonight," Deela said beside her. Arin turned to her friend and stood, anticipating they would be leaving soon. "We're not leaving yet, I have to make a few more rounds. Oh and, don't look now, but you have an admirer at the bar staring at your ass." Her violet eyes shifted quickly past Arin's shoulder and then back to her again, giving her a childish wink before leaving again.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Frightening Surprises

Lately it seemed days at the office had been getting longer and longer for Garrus. Not that he'd complain about it; shorter days meant he had either done his duty right, or he was nowhere near to closing a case, and longer days usually meant he at least had something to go by. This time, however, it was different.

He still didn't agree with most of what his father thought about the Spectres, but spirits be damned if the giant walls the Council put up to protect them weren't getting to him. He spent countless hours trying to climb the bureaucratic mountain that kept him from doing his job; his case against the Spectre had him growing more frustrated each fruitless day.

While he hadn't been eating all that well, what he needed most right now was a drink. On his way to the closest bar from his C-Sec office, Garrus dropped by Doctor Michel's clinic, surprised to find it open still. He didn't question her about the man from the week before mainly because she didn't seem distressed; his curiosity was caught instead by the smartass nurse… or rather, lack thereof. According to the doctor, whose slight change of expression when he asked about the nurse muddled Garrus, the woman in question had left early to go on a date. Given how long he had known the doctor not to have anyone else working at the clinic, it was only natural that Garrus wanted to know more on the subject. And he might have asked, had a female human with three smaller ones walked inside to get aid from the doctor arrived just minutes later. Might as well, he really wanted that drink.

He could hear the booming music when he entered the sector to Chora's Den, and he could very much smell the acrid sent of stale liquor once he stepped inside. He sat at the bar to gather his thoughts and await the bartender; it may have been more comfortable to sit at a table but he was in no mood to shoo away the damned asari who seemed not to take the hint even after years of coming to this bar. Maybe their hormones, brainwaves or whatever it was they used to seduce others senseless worked on most, but Garrus was just fine without them thank you very much.

Not that it mattered, of course. Shortly after he ordered his drink an asari dancer was on him faster than he could down his shot. "Not today," he said nicely, only briefly taking an accidental glimpse of the blue asari ass rubbing against his C-Sec armor. "Just here to drink." He then pulled her off and adjusted in his seat.

"Aww, you never like to have fun," the asari complained before she left.

He scanned around, not searching for anything in particular but to placate a nearly innate habit of his. There wasn't a big crowd tonight, but Garrus was sure to find something interesting to watch. Last time he was here, his attention was retained by the sight of some rookie human and salarian mercs trying to outdrink a krogan. That had been quite the show. Tonight, Garrus hoped to find something just as interesting, if not more.

To his far left in one of the darkest spots in the bar, his eyes found a drunk Harkin smacking the ass of an asari waitress that didn't seem to mind. Just a little ways over was a group of turians and a salarian probably drinking themselves to a happy blackout. A hint to the right revealed a table of Alliance soldiers still in their fatigues watching an asari move atop their table. The bartender placed another of the same drink before him. Closer to his right was a _human _woman talking to an asari dancer. You didn't see that often here. He glanced downward on the human's body and saw there were no holes where a Chora's Den female employee's uniform would have. Though, given the roundness and size of it, Garrus was certain she would make a fine dancer.

Realizing his thought, he began to choke on his drink. The proximity of him and the human woman was enough that she turned at the sound, and though he was quickly recovering, his cough only worsened when her face was revealed.

Thankfully, Doctor Michel's nurse turned back around toward the asari just as fast and Garrus had had a fist covering his mouth while he coughed. He thanked the spirits that a little quirk he'd picked up working with humans might have been enough for the nurse not to have recognized him. He told himself to get it together. To breathe. Breathe. Good. He would really rather not get taken down by a cruddy drink in at a sleezy bar.

He turned to look at the nurse to find her by herself again. She was twirling some yellowish liquid in her glass. People usually had one of two reasons for drinking: to have fun or to forget.

Garrus could make no claim at being an expert in human mating traditions, but he was aware enough to know that many humans, like turians, had stages of courtship, unlike most asari who took things too fast, and salarians just as fast but more distant. As for hanar, elcor and the other species, he had no idea and most certainly didn't want to know. Though, the turians were still more forthcoming in terms of courtship than humans, he was familiar that dating was the beginning test of a committed relationship for humans. And it seemed to Garrus that the nurse and her date hadn't passed it.

Before he could imagine what sort of thing had driven her to Chora's Den, she caught his stare and Garrus felt a sudden urge take cover behind the bar. Instead, he coolly returned her curt nod and toast from afar- another human thing he was used to.

He signaled the bartender for another drink. He definitely needed some alcohol in him now. He was Garrus Vakarian, the best damn sniper in C-Sec. So why did he feel so foolish? He was Garrus Vakarian, not someone that was easily unnerved. So why did he feel so embarrassed.? A sigh growled softly out of him. His workload must have been getting to him. He wasn't a man that would succumb to some awkward moment. He was Garrus Vakarian.

He stalked toward the nurse very much determined, even though he was unable to think of something to say once he got there to make an uncomfortable circumstance better. She was, after all, working for an esteemed acquaintance of his. Garrus set his glass down at the same time he took a seat next to the nurse. "Shepard, right?" his mandibles snapped to his face after he realized he addressed her as he does his fellow C-Sec officers, by their surname. Garrus Vakarian: best shot in the galaxy? Probably. Imbecile? Too likely.

" Yes." She looked over her shoulder to acknowledge him with a tight-lipped smile before turning back. "Though, I'm sorry to say I didn't catch your name," she said.

He cleared his throat and extended his hand to her, yet another human custom many council races had adopted. "Garrus Vakarian," he said.

"Arin Shepard." After they exchanged handshakes, she returned to her drink. "Funny, isn't?" she asked then took a sip from her drink, long enough for him to wonder what she'd meant. Her name didn't sound all that funny. "For such a shady bar, it's pretty full of supposed reputable people. Turian military. Alliance. A few of the famous Commandos. C-Sec."

Garrus laughed in a short huff and his mandibles flared just a bit. "I don't suppose that was jab at me, was it?" She spun on her seat to partially face him and give him a wicked grin, the first he'd seen from her- not that he'd known her long. The dark circles under her eyes were barely visible under the club's forgiving lighting. "If that's your answer, then you might want to practice your jokes," he said and took a swig of his drink as a toast to himself.

"Why would I wanna do that?" Her voice as innocent as could be in such a place. "Your own advice seems to be doing very little for you," she countered.

This time, his laugh was more audible, but he couldn't let that get away. "I'm a natural; don't need much practice."

The nurse laughed in that way only asari and human females laughed… What had Ridgefield called it? Giggling. Right. She giggled right before giving him a scowl. He took another swig, wondering why the nurse's reactions changed so quickly. He couldn't make her out.

"So what brings a reputable nurse like yourself to this place? A gentlemen's club of all things." No sooner had the words left his mouth that he felt like the moron he'd been acting all night. Firstly, that was the kind of cheesy pickup line that humans both, were appalled at and fell for, and he was definitely not trying to pick her up. Secondly, it wasn't like he had never known any females that cared only for other females. And now that he'd said this was a gentleman's club it dawned on him that she might be—

"Had a lousy date so I came here," she said without reserve and with her eyes firmly set on her near-empty drink. Garrus didn't miss the change of shade in the human's cheeks, even in this crappy lighting. His curiosity about the change in skin color got the best of him and he was about to inquire about what caused such an occurrence that seemed to be so common amongst the females of the species, but she opened her mouth to speak. "And I have a friend who works here. I'm waiting for her shift to end before we hop over to another place."

So. She was _that_ kind of female. Other than the general crowd being a little too loud for his personal taste, he didn't have a problem with people who were dedicated to going to clubs and parties, and in fact, didn't mind going to them at all. But by the time Garrus was old enough to go to big parties and clubs, he _felt _tooold for that. And that was a long time ago.

The nurse opened her mouth to speak again, but he felt obligated to comment on her original answer. "I'm sure there are potential mates for you to snap in no time," he said. And he meant it, too. Sure, there were many humans that looked very similar to one another. But there were also many that didn't. This human looked distinct. Her body was shaped like the stereotypical quarian's, but he wasn't going to think about that because he was a turian. But, uh, for starters, even if she was every bit the smartass she seemed to be, she appeared to have qualities his human coworkers deemed an attractive female to require. Her skin was something in between pale and brown- far too soft and unprotected if you asked Garrus, and her fringe looked like loose chocolate coils. Hmm… He could go for some Palaven chocolate right about now. Or any food, really, because he hadn't eaten since morning and he was getting damn hungry. Hell, even human food would do. Well, he was hungry, but not that desperate.

"And you, Vakarian?" she asked and he willed his derailed train of thought to leave him be. "What brings a dignified turian to this part of the Wards?"

"Just wanted a drink," he said, honestly.

He saw a smirk building on her lips and he tried to something to add before she could make up something to in his answer to tease him for, but an asari came to her other side and clasped her shoulder to get her attention. That must have been the friend the nurse mentioned. "Hey, ready to leave? Oh, hello," she turned her sight to Garrus like a sniper on a target, "I see you got yourself a nice replacement for Ethan… And an upgrade, too."

Garrus' mandibles twitched subconsciously and his mind switched to overtime to correct the asari's mistake without slighting the nurse. He liked turian females; he was a good turian.

"You're leaving early?" the barkeep broke his thoughts when she joined in the conversation.

"I already met my cut for the night," the nurse's friend stated.

"Yeah well, Fist just comm'ed me, asked if you were still here."

"And…"

"Told him the truth, you know he'd just come out and see for himself anyway."

The human barkeep left before the asari could complain and Garrus sipped on his drink so he wouldn't seem to be snooping. "Ugh, I'm sorry, Arin."

"It's alright, Deela," the nurse said, "you know Fist is already pissed at you as it is."

"Yeah, but I thought I could get away with it. I'll meet you at your place for lunch before you head to the clinic tomorrow, ok?" He stole a glance at the asari at the mention of food.

"Of course."

"Besides, looks like you have a nice escort home," she winked at Garrus.

"Oh he's not—" the nurse began but her friend was faster.

"Bye Arin, have a good time, you two!" and with that, the asari was gone to a pole without a guest yet.

"Sorry about that," the nurse looked at him sheepishly, a rare look in a human.

Garrus didn't know what to say so he waved it off with his gloved hand as he downed the last contents of his drink, all the while looking at her from the side.

She gave him a curious look and then that wicked grin of hers was back again. "Asari."

He waited for her to continue speaking. The human's gaze shifted ever so slightly down from his eyes and only for a second and held her smile steady. It quickly became obvious to Garrus that there was nothing more she was going to say. "You may have had more drinks than you can take because that last thing you said made no sense."

"Oh but it does. You're not here because you got thirsty, you're here for the asari," she put her hands up defensively before he could speak, "oh don't worry, I don't judge. Besides, why do you think the rest of the people are here for?"

"No, I," how could Garrus explain it without seeming eager to get out of here. He was hungry but he would really prefer not to make a bad impression worse; there were enough people that held disdain for him as it was. "I heard mention of Fist and wanted to see if that asari friend of yours was one of the girls that had recently complained at the station about him." Although there_ was_ a former employee of Chora's Den that put a formal complaint about Fist to C-Sec, the case had been closed for weeks. So while what he'd said wasn't entirely a lie, he felt lousy for, well, lying to her. At least he wouldn't come off as someone who was whiny. The humans had a monopoly on that one.

"Ah, say no more." The human stood up abruptly; too abruptly he thought by the way her body wavered for a moment. Garrus instinctively reached to catch her but she steadied herself by gripping the counter before his hand reached her. He was surprised to learn she had very fast reflexes for someone in such a state. "I should go, I better get some food in me or else I'll have a hangover tomorrow." She eyed around for the barkeep, who caught her signal and nodded to the her as she filled some other people's orders.

"Either what they say about humans is true or that must have been some strong stuff you had," said Garrus as he stood. She was a lot taller than he remembered.

"What_ do_ they say about humans, Officer Vakarian?" she asked with warning smile and a quizzical brow. He noticed the way his name rolled off her tongue and tried to decrypt the way she said it. It hadn't sounded like she was mocking him.

"That you can't hold liquor very well," he quipped. He turned on his omni-tool and readied it to pay.  
She shook her head and gave him a dry laugh as she searched for the barkeep again, clearly not amused. "I'm sure I could outdrink a turian any day of the week." He was confused as to why the day of the week would matter… though with how weird humans were, it wouldn't surprise him to find out that the alcohol tolerance changed on certain days.

"I wouldn't bet on it."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't want to challenge you. I might end up like that poor man you brought to the clinic the first time we met." The barkeep returned and the nurse's omni-tool chimed on.

Much to his surprise, Garrus was caught off guard by the nurse's retort. By the way she spoke with him tonight it seemed like she didn't have a low opinion of him. At least not until the last few seconds. Even when a lot of his actions landed him in trouble, he cared very little what people thought of him, especially if it had been the right call. But it felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him. Maybe it was because he was being scored by a human or because she was just a nurse… But no. There had been humans that had snubbed him before, and he had nothing but the outmost respect for nurses and just about anyone that worked hard.

"Good night, _Vakarian_," the human said, snapping him away from his thoughts. Before he could respond she left for the exit. He stared after her, still feeling the aftershocks of something so stupid and petty that it shouldn't bother him in the least.

No. He was always getting shut down by C-Sec and the Council before he could show them his reasoning. She had no authority over him and at the very least he would explain himself while he had the chance. "I'm ready to pay," he said hurriedly to the barkeep as she cleaned up a spot near him.

"No need," she dismissed him without a second look.

"What?" he was growing impatient.

"That girl paid for your drinks." He growled quietly, thankfully too soft to be heard. "But if you want I could charge you, too." He tightened his jaw and held his mandibles tightly against him as he gave the barkeep a glare. He wondered briefly if maybe Doctor Michel was the only human female that wasn't a total smartass.

Dropping a credit chit for the barkeep's tip, Garrus wheeled for the door like he was out on a chase for a suspect. Oh, he was not going to let her get away. That was the third time. The third damn time she had done this—and they had only met three times. On top of that, she wasn't even an authority over him.

Garrus caught a glimpse of her as she left the corridors just outside Chora's Den. He listened to the fresh echoes her shoes had made and hastened his pace to catch up to her. When he finally did, she was quick to locate the skycab request stand in a sea of people who were enjoying their time off work as he should be right now.

"Arin," he called to her but her name was drowned out by all other sounds.

He pushed through the crowd and finally got just close enough to grab her arm before she could reach the request button. "Shepard." When she spun around to face him, her features showed something familiar, something he had felt all night. Surprise.

Garrus could tell himself it was hunger, but he could feel it in the pit of his stomach and all through him that he was just about to do something very stupid.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **_Thank you guys for the wonderful reviews, especially Dimladris who was my first reviewer and somehow still keeps reading my stuff! Blausen, as for your question to whether or not my FemShep's brother is alive... We won't find out for quite some time ;). Favs and Subscriptions mean a lot to me, and reviews keep me going (kind of like batteries for that pink energizer bunny), so thank you for that. These next two chapters are kind of passive, a small calm before the storm. I hope you enjoy, and I promise not to make a habit out of writing A/Ns. _

**Chapter Five: Unexpected Respite**

For a very short and daft instant, she wondered whether she'd done something wrong. He_ was_ C-Sec after all. Arin stared in disbelief as the turian held her arm. The second and certainly more likely possibility was that she dropped something… But all she could think of was that there was a turian towered above her, with his mandibles slightly slacked, holding her still. His grip was neither violent nor forceful; it was gentle and solid at the same time.

"Officer?" she spoke at last.

The turian's taloned hand fell back beside him and his mandibles twitched just enough that Arin noticed. She couldn't help but feel like he'd lost composure, if only briefly. It had been a funny sight to behold- especially coming from a turian, a species that seem to be born holding weapons as well as a stick up their… "Please," he brought a fist to his mouth as he cleared his throat before he spoke again, "it's just Garrus to you."

"What's going on?"

"I figured since we're both hungry and you paid for my drinks, I would return the favor," he suggested.

"Thanks, but you don't have to," she was quick to say. She very much didn't mean to have dinner with the turian, and her intention for buying his drinks was shamefully childish and asinine, the cherry on the insult she'd intended to leave him with.

"It's alright," he insisted, "you'd be doing me a favor."

"I'd be doing you a favor?" Arin repeated, incredulous.

He held his stance. "It's a turian thing."

Arin wasn't sure whether to believe him, but she was famished and didn't want to deny him any sort of tradition he_ really may_ _have_ just because she felt a bit embarrassed. But it was mostly hunger that drove her to say, "Fine." Well maybe the whiskey had also played a role in that decision.

His grin grew wide for a second. "Good. I know a _great_ place that severs good grub."

The two made small talk on their way to the backside of the Silver Strip, where everything from the price to the quality was almost a complete opposite to the richness of the Strip. Except for this little hole in the wall, where people of all species sat at many of the restaurant's tiny tables. Though the weekend had barely just begun, the streets were packed, and unfortunately for Arin's stomach, so was that place the turian had chosen.

They walked past the wide entrance of the place to get in line, but a human inside was quick to recognize her companion. "Garrus! Good to see you! Here," an Asian man called above the small horde, 'here, here." His hand excitedly waved them to the front by the register. She was growing increasingly upset at her companion's misuse of power. First Doctor Michel, and now this man.

"A lot of people are gonna be pissed at us for cutting in," Arin muttered.

"You get used to it after a while," he replied, unbothered.

"Get used to getting breaks for being a cop or the anger thing?"

She watched his mandibles flutter. Did he really think that was a serious question? "The anger thing." She huffed in disapproval, which he ignored, and easily at that, as the aforementioned man spoke.

"Just you? Yes?"

"Yes, just us."

"Yes, yes, Falo'han and Gerald were here earlier. Usual for you?"

"That'd be fine, thanks." She was ghosting her eyes over the menu when she spotted the turian looking down at her, but the two quickly looked away from one another, Arin resuming her previous task. She wasn't reading, not really. Underneath all those words and prices behind the man at the register, it took her nearly every ounce of self-restraint not to bolt out of there. Well, that and hunger. The hunger helped a lot. Pesky little thing. "Some friends down in C-Sec practically worship the, uh, cheese friends and… what are they called… the chicken fingers here. Beer's not bad either."

"Sure, I'll give that a go," she replied. No sooner had Garrus paid that the Asian man ushered them to the side until their order was ready, and once their tray was handed to them, they made their way around the crowded maze that the tables and their guests made. She'd been a little disappointed their food hadn't been handed to them in take-home gear. Granted, she hadn't exactly voiced her opinion that she'd rather just go home and eat alone, and moreover that would have been rude. It would have just been nice to. "Thanks for dinner, by the way."

"Don't mention it." He found a corner with a freshly empty table and they settled in, shifting chairs and their plates a little to find just the right comfort. The smell from her cheese fries threatened to make her drool and the hot smoke coming off them wasn't making it easier. A glance at _his _food was all she required to gain the control she needed to keep from mowing down a plate of piping hot food. _His_ food looked to be slices of something still _so raw_ that it might just gather itself and fly off.

Eventually, Arin stabbed at a chunk of clustered cheese fries with her fork, and through half-lidded eyes watching him do the same to the meat on his place, though in place of a fork was a spear-like stick. The two had gone halfway through their meal without uttering so much as a word to each other. Other than the occasional unintentional noise of approval, the other patrons' conversations filled the air between them.

The cheese fries were, for all intents and purposes, very cheesy. She'd only had them once before, back on Earth; she remembered then wanting to kiss whatever person had first come up with the dish. "Mm…" Damn they were good. "I outta make turians feel indebted to me more often, who knows what other great things I'm missing."

He guffawed like there was some great inside joke she was the butt of. "I did say this was a good place." Arin watched as he took another slice of meat into his mouth, and kept his mandibles tight to his face as he chewed. She'd seen their odd way of eating all the time long before, but never so close. At least they weren't like salarians, masticating their pasty food by only moving their lower jaw like amphibian cows. She shuddered at the thought. "It's good to see Doctor Michel have help around the clinic; in the few years the clinic's been up, I don't think I've ever seen anyone stick around longer than a week."

His comment caught her off guard, but it was as good an invitation as she was going to get to get her curiosity ball going. "You visit the clinic often."

"I… suppose. Though less so than when I had more patrol rounds."

She hesitated a little and moved the contents of her plate around with her fork, unsure of how to transition on. "Would you say you've made a habit out of it?"

"Yes," he hummed out. "Best not to let mercs and thugs think they're free to offer _protection_ to the doctor."

Arin scoffed, unbelieving of how hypocritical the man before her was. "So instead you grant her yours…"

"That's what C-Sec does."

She leaned forward. "…in exchange for a few favors. Or is that just you?"

His jaw slacked for a moment, like she'd just wounded his pride. Hah. As if any turian would be offended by a human. He tugged at the cowl of his uniform, stretching his neck, like he suddenly felt uncomfortable and was trying to find relief. Clearly she'd hit a soft spot. "I'm pretty sure I know what this is about." And rightfully so, Arin thought. "Look, I know you think I roughed that guy up without reason—"

Well, that was another fish she'd wanted to fry, though, truth be told, she hadn't planned on doing it 'til later. "You abuse the power entrusted in you," she hissed low enough for only him to hear.

"—I… That's _not_. No. I roughed him up a bit and let him go."

"You manhandled someone when you had no right to, and if he _is_ a criminal then you should have brought him back to C-Sec, not inflict your own twisted sense of justice upon him."

He groaned, clearly getting exasperated. He took a long sip of his drink. His voice rang low and cool when he spoke. "These guys are expendable to the people they work for. They're easily replaced," he explained, "You know that, and since you seem fairly intelligent I'll assume you know that too. _They_ don't know that. And if I have to rough a guy like him up a bit to get good intel on his boss before cutting him lose, I will. You think he's going back to that line of work when he just about crapped his pants 'cause I scared him a little? Not many do. It's a win-win, the way I see it. He gets to keep his life by not working for violent thugs anymore and I get valuable information to help me catch those thugs."

Arin sighed, tightening her jaws in an attempt to release some of the ire she'd felt for the turian ever since that night she first met him. Her brother would probably do the same in the turian's place; both men were cold and calculating in the face of the enemy. The Butcher of Torfan. Her brother. And she'd be damned in hell if she didn't admit, at least to herself, that it made sense. "Well, what about Doctor Michel?" she reneged, "you _protect_ her and she fixes up the people you torture. Do you know how much trou—"

"I-" he started but a low growl escaped her companion loud enough for her to hear, her primal instincts telling her to take up arms or flee or both, "I don't do that. I protect her because _that's _what C-Sec does. Whether she helped me or not, I'd be there. And if we didn't make an appearance in this place or that place you think these sectors wouldn't be crawling with mercs trying to extort whomever they pleased?

"As for the doctor, I'm just glad to have met someone I see eye to eye with. She breaks rules because some keep her from doing her job. I break rules because they impede me from doing mine. And don't worry, I pay for the treatments and donate credits for her silence." The turian stabbed at the slices of meat, taking a big chunk to his mouth. The ghost of his growl awakened something _else_ primal in her, but he had thankfully said a lot to think about instead of giving her room to scrutinize whatever the hell was going on inside her.

A serene quietness steadied between them. She'd watched him carefully through his entire speech; it was clear to her that he believed his every word. As for Arin, although she could understand the logic behind his statements, she hadn't yet decided whether she agreed with his methodology or not.

"Why would you have to silence someone you trust?" she asked, thoughtfully.

"I don't have to. I do it with gratitude." His grin was back, exposing those predatory teeth of his.

"What about the violence? Wouldn't you rather just get on the guy's good side and get him to be your mole or something?"

"Moles of any kind never last long- always get found out. They're a big investment. It costs a lot of credits to send someone to infiltrate, so the Council's ordered us not to unless it's a big scheme. They much rather have the Presidium looking crisp, changing sceneries every so often so people don't get bored. Instead, some of us do what we can with what we get."

Arin nodded in understanding. As harsh as some of what Garrus had said sounded, she couldn't deny him that it all made sense, but she wasn't about bust her white flag to acknowledge her defeat. No, she was far too stubborn for that. At the very least, this night out had given her not only a different understanding on the hidden inner workings of the Citadel, but it reaffirmed something her brother had always tried to teach her despite the bubble her parents kept her in: Nobody likes doing the dirty work, but somebody has to do it. Not exactly something an _idealistic_ mind learns in the tight and sheltered upbringing in the Alliance. What was left of her meal had grown cold and a little soggy, but she didn't want to be rude about a meal he paid for. Besides, chewing gave her time to mull this fresh perspective over.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Controversial Notions**

Above the rim of his glass, Garrus studied his companion. She seemed very quiet, and by the way her brows were knitted, very, very deep in thought. And while the nurse being silent meant that he would have some reprieve from her rebuke, he was very curious as to what her opinion was on what he'd just said.

Setting his empty glass down and opted instead to count himself lucky for the time being. He watched her stab the last of her fries, astonished at how much this tiny human could eat, and joined her by eating the remainder of his own meal.

"So," her voice made Garrus wince in anticipation of what he thought would be another chastisement, "Tell me. What's this turian thing that forced you to take me to dinner?"

"Forced is too heavy a word," he refuted, adding his best smile, careful not to dig another hole he may not be able climb.

"Required to, then," she provided, and took his immediate lack of response in mocked injury and gasped to add to the effect. "So it's true! You were _obligated_ to; I'm hurt." She shook her head but all the while her lips stretched into a smile as big as he'd seen on her, causing Garrus' grin to grow wider even still. A natural response, he assured himself, things like that were contagious. "There goes my plan, then."

He allowed himself a short and fine laugh before admitting, "It's not like that. Actually, that whole favor thing… that might have been a bit of a stretch."

"And just how much of a stretch…?"

"More of a tradition, really. It's the… duty of those with more notches in the meritocracy to show their reach. As an offering." In a _courtship_ tradition. "I did say it was a stretch."

"An offering?"

"Let's call it a peace offering," he said, cocking his head to the side slightly.

She giggled in that curious way again. Second time that night. "Yeah, alright," she agreed as she got up, with Garrus quickly following suit. They emptied their table and headed out, where she slowly gazed from one end of the sector to the other. He tried not to stare at the newly acquired blush on her face. "See any skycab consoles?"

"Oh, uh," Garrus pulled his cowl down as he stretched his neck, feeling a bit embarrassed, "there isn't one in this sector. Where are you headed?" Or maybe he was warm. Yeah, that was probably it.

"I live in Zakera, in the upper sectors."

That was quite a ways away. He felt bad for having taken her this far from her home, especially now that she had to take a skycab. He resolved to take her there himself so she wouldn't have to pay for the fare. "I was heading around that area myself," he lied, "We can share a skycar, if… that's ok."

"Uh, sure," she decided, though none too eager. Not that he could blame her; he'd gotten used to the idea that humans were always very suspicious. Turians, on the other hand, were more forward with their intentions. Not that there weren't any deceitful turians, just not very many.

"Let's go find that console."

Finding said console turned out to be a bigger task than he had initially imagined. When he didn't need them, there always seemed to be an almost obscene number of them. Now? Now wasn't a single one in sight. He was about to comment on this, but realized that acknowledging it would just give her more material to make fun of him with. Something that, so far, the nurse seemed to very much enjoy at his expense.

"You know," she began, almost causing him to internally cringe. He was certain whatever insult was coming his way wouldn't be half as funny as the stuff he'd say about her… If he had any fodder. "I'd _bet anything_ that if you hadn't had so much to drink, you wouldn't have so much trouble finding a skycab console for us."

"That has nothing to do with how much I've had to drink. And you really shouldn't be so willing to be anything."

"Aha!" She hit his arm and beamed at him proudly, "So you don't know where a console is!"

"You're missing the point, you don't know what kind of turian I am and yet you're willing to _bet anything_ on something that—"

"Well, Garrus! I didn't peg you to be into that sort of thing, I should have been betting sooner!"

Garrus sighed in immediate defeat. He couldn't say anything about the console, or her gambling issues. He should have expected something like this from her. Maybe he hadn't known her long, but it was long enough to know to watch himself around her. Her tongue was as clever as her ears were keen- something that hadn't done him any good so far.

"Oh alright, I won't tease you about your terrible lack of direction. Though I still think you should know the area around a restaurant you suggested. Just sayin'. "

What made it worse was that this was one of the sectors he used to have to patrol during his first year at C-Sec. But she definitely didn't need to know that. "You're too kind," he feigned gratitude and placed his hand at his heart for a moment.

"So, police officers have a higher standing than nursing staff in the meritocracy?"

His browplates raised at the question until he remembered what he'd said. "Oh, that. Well," in truth, while any medical staff was highly praised in turian society, it still had nothing on military personnel, "unless you acquired some mutation that turned you into a turian, or got yourself a turian bondmate, you technically have no standing in the meritocracy."

"Time to take up biology and chem, I guess," she joked.

Garrus slowed his pace to meet hers; any passers-by that needed to walk past went around them, but neither of them seemed to mind. Garrus didn't.

He'd felt awkward on the way to the restaurant because the distance between him and Shepard had been wide, like she was bothered to be walking next to him, which in turn had him feeling just a little hurt. Okay, maybe not hurt, but certainly self-conscious. He wondered if anyone walking by thought of them as a couple… It wasn't horribly uncommon for a human female to be with a male turian, but Garrus understood why Arin may indeed have felt some sort of annoyance. Not like a xenophone would, but something. Unlike Arin, if they _were_ a couple, Garrus wouldn't have felt embarrassed to walk beside her. Turians have to be as proud of their mate as they are proud of their origin.

Walking at a much closer distance to her now felt, well, fine. He was aware of the various _looks_ the two were getting. Sure, many were from males looking at his companion with an inappropriate hunger in their eyes, the kind that made him want to punch their faces in until they learned some damn respect. Damn humans, always ogling what wasn't theirs. But there were also others that sneered at them, thinking the two were together. He never understood the attraction some turians had for humans and asari, but he also didn't care what anyone's preferences were. All he cared about was being a good turian and doing the right thing.

"Ugh." Beside him, Arin sighed, forcing him to rein in his thoughts. "Wait a second," she said, grabbing hold of his arm with one hand and bending down a little. Lithe small fingers held his arm with a strong grip, and he couldn't help a smile that crept up his face that even as outstretched and long as her fingers may be, they couldn't wrap around his forearm like a turian's could. Not even close. He provided his arm, holding her steady as she balanced on one leg at a time to remove one shoe, and then the other.

A few thoughts occurred to Garrus then: She was definitely much shorter than he previously thought, having sunk quite a bit when her bare feet touched the ground; the heels of her shoes looked impossibly high and dangerous. And only now did Garrus figure out her cold demeanor toward him had disappeared after she questioned him back at the restaurant. She had practically interrogated him. But it also looked like she was letting him go.

At least he could continue having a comfortable acquaintanceship with the doctor.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Troublesome Men

Arin could very well have bid the turian good-bye and ordered a cab for herself. Something stopped her, however. And that something kept her mind from focusing on whatever it was Garrus had just said. "Shepard?" What had he asked? Oh, right, Family. Alliance.

"No, uh, I guess I never got the inkling to join," she replied. She thanked her lucky stars there was some sacred part of her that _had indeed_ paid attention to Garrus as he aspoke. "Spent my whole life on Alliance ships, surrounded by marines. I know the lifestyle… I guess I just wanted more."

The turian expertly skewed them through traffic in the general direction of her ward. "Hmm."

She knew where the noise he made stemmed from. She'd been questioned by her parents, friends, and just about anyone that found out she had deep Alliance ties. Pretty much everyone except her brother. "It's stupid, I know. I mean, who knows? I might have even had my own command by now, and instead I'm just a nurse in one of the less regarded parts of the Citadel." She looked sideways, out to the blackened windows to avoid seeing his agreement. Maybe turians were tough to read, but she knew condescending when she saw it; she wasn't about to mar the newly repaired image of the turian next to her by confirming it.

"Why did you become a nurse?" His tone was not one of contempt, unlike the one she'd previously expected. It seemed so open, so clear, like it held no judgment for her. It was just that. A simple question.

But though the question was light and easy enough, her answer was not. She wondered for a moment whether lying to save face would be wise. Arin had never been one to do so, not unless it was completely necessary- the guilt trips sent her feeling cruddy for days or even weeks, no matter how small the fib had been.

That being said, the truth would just cast an image of a silly girl in the eyes of the turian. Of this, she was certain. And if Garrus and the doctor had a long standing friendship, she'd hate to come out as some ditzy, idealistic bimbo, if she was to continue working at the clinic.

She looked back at her companion to answer, but her mouth came up empty when she caught him staring at her. She would have jokingly called him out on his lack of attention to the traffic had she not been the object of his gaze. As luck would have it, she was. She knew he was probably awaiting her answer, but that didn't stop a blush from painting her face. It wasn't her fault; she couldn't be the only one shaken by the way turians glared… Only he wasn't glaring, he was… he was… Well, it was different. And the effect had been positive if her body had anything to say about it.

That was that. Even if she'd only had a few drinks, it'd _clearly _been too much. Wait, didn't turians have a better sense of smell than humans? Shit. Shit. SHIT!

The turian's head began to turn back to the path ahead, but his eyes lagged behind him as they swam downward on her face then to her cheeks for a moment before returning to the front. The instant had been so short that she would have missed it had she blinked.

She prayed to God and every other spiritual and ethereal being in the known universe that he hadn't notice the flush coloring her face and whatever else was going on with her down there. Clearly there was something wrong with her. She'd have to do a scan with her omni-tool when she got home.

In an attempt to pull him away from whatever the hell he was thinking about her, she forced herself to quickly answer. "I, uh, well, I guess the first reason is that I care about people. I want to help." That was true.

"Noble. And the other reason?" he asked, stealing a quick glance at her when he began his question.

"Oh, umm," A nervous laugh escaped her. "You'd have to get me absolutely hammered before I told you that."

She paid mind to the slowed flow of traffic, coming to the conclusion that they were coming to a halt. They must be near the sector within her ward with a lot of clubs.

"Hammered?" the confusion in his voice was unmistakable. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Right," There it was. The ever-present species barrier that had not bothered to fully remind her of their vast differences. "It means drunk. Really, _really_ drunk."

"That shouldn't be a problem," he said dryly.

"Ha-ha. Very funny."

He stretched his neck forward as they came to a turn. "Speaking of drinking. I seem to recall what vaguely came off as a challenge from you. Something about being able to outdrink a turian…"

"… Any day of the week," She finished and laughed again. "I remember." Arin did her best to suppress a giant smile. "What, you wanna take me on, big guy? There's plenty of bars around here, Garrus. And I'm willing to bet my good credits if you want to make it more interesting."

"That… won't be necessary; I'm sure it will be interesting enough." He cleared his throat and glared out into traffic like he was trying to focus. "I mean, I'd feel bad for taking all your credits. Then what would you bet?"

She gaped at the insult for a second then scoffed. "Oh, I'm sure that won't be an issue."

"Keep telling yourself that, but we both know even a baby krogan could probably outdrink you and every other human."

"Hell, a baby krogan could probably outdrink every nonkrogan out there."

Arin looked back to see his mandibles had spread far and wide as he chuckled freely, sending vibrations to her chest, like there were a million tiny drums beating to his flanged voice. It was a curious feeling.  
"Good point," he gave in when he finally stopped laughing.

She looked away, back to the dark window to hide her amusement.

"As much as I'd like to feed your gambling issue," he started, and Arin could see in the reflection he'd looked at her sideways, maybe to see if he'd gotten a rise out of her, "I have a big case I need to wake up early for." Her breath caught at her throat in embarrassment, and she automatically thought of many different ways that would make his… rejection? No, it wasn't a date. Well whatever it was, she wanted to make it easier for the both of them, even though he'd been the one to bring up the topic. Except she didn't get a chance to exercise said ways. "I'm going to enjoy taking you down a mark. It'll be nice seeing a humble human for a change."

"I'll have you know I am very much a humble person—"

"Hm. Yes, it shows," Garrus agreed sarcastically, and when he spotted her pout, he laughed some more. "At least you don't argue that you have a gambling addiction."

"I do not!"

"Really? Because you keep trying to bet on even the most trivial things."

Arin scowled at the turian, very much hating how the tables had turned. She was used to teasing and making witty remarks about others. This, well, she didn't like this. "You know what?"

"What?" he asked, she could hear that he'd muffled another chuckle.

"Just say the word, Vakarian, and I'll take you on."

"I'll even give you a heads-up so you can tell Doctor Michel you'll need a few days off to recover from your hangover."

She shook her head to keep from laughing. Damn, smartass turian. "I bet you think you're so funny."

"See," he began, clicking his tongue in disapproval, "there's that addiction again."

"Ugh. Just keep driving."

* * *

The weirdest thing about having gotten to know Garrus better was that now Arin wanted to learn a little more each time he dropped by to check in to the clinic, which had been almost every day during the weeks after their… outing. She attributed this new want to her insatiable curiosity. He was, after all, one of very few turians that wasn't cold toward her. Unfortunately, he only dropped by for a few minutes, not long enough to ask him anything other than after his well-being.

Maybe he was busy. He did say he was working on a big case.

"Look at you," Deela said, suddenly appearing in Arin's field of vision, "Daydreaming like a fifty year old asari maiden." The asari walked around to Arin's desk and hugged her.

"What? I'm not- wait, aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Yeah, I'm just dropping by before my shift. Fist has really been working us late."

"I noticed. I've missed you."

"And I've missed you," the asari said with a pout. "For whatever reason there's a flood of mercs, coming through to the club. I don't think we're promoting more, but whatever Fist is doing, I'm fine with. You should see the tips some of these guys give just for shaking my t—"

"No need for visuals, lots of dirty mercs. Got it."

Deela gave a breathy laugh before suggesting, "You know, you'd make a killing on tips."

"And as flattered as I am," Arin said with a bright smile, "the answer remains the same."

"Can't blame me for trying again. I wonder how much that turian of yours would have given you that night."

"Deela!" Arin mockingly pushed the asari.

"Hey, I wasn't the one blatantly staring. You never told me what happened with him, anyway."

"I did tell you. Nothing happened. We went our separate ways." That was true… They _had_ gone their separate ways at the end of the night when he dropped her off. Deela didn't have to know they had dinner and shared a skycab. "And he's a turian,"she said plainly, to deflect any more intrusive questions the asari might have.

"One of these days, Arin, a turian will catch your eye and then you'll have to think of some other excuse."

"Right, right. And what excuse are you gonna give Fist for being late?"

"Oh, Goddess," Deela made a little jump at the reminder and was walking out of the clinic before Arin could begin to cackle at her friend. "I'll see you—oof—" Just as she was exiting, she bumped into a man who appeared to be in just as much of a hurry as she, "hey, watch it! Bye, Arin!"

"Good luck!" The nurse reached for the nearby glove dispenser as the man approached her. "Hello, Doctor Michel should be back from lunch soon, but in the meantime—"

"You gotta help me," the man said, balancing himself on the balls of his feet and running hand through his short, cropped hair.

"That's what I'm here for."

"Yeah, okay, listen, I have this crazy meeting coming and I need to get some stims."

Arin looked at the man, really looked at him. She was sure this was the very same person Doctor Michel had warned her not to give any stims to just earlier in the week. "What's your name?"

"Elias Keeler." She brought up her scanner on her omni-tool. His readings were off the chart, and no wonder: not half into this new month and he had already hit his monthly limit for mental stimulants.

"You've already purchased the allowed amount for the month. And I gotta tell ya, your readings are off the chart; you _have_ to get help." She reached for a holo-card chip in her desk and held it out for him to scan. "This is a great, free clinic that helps with problems like yours."

"No!" The man smacked the chip away from her hand. "You don't understand! I'm a negotiator for the Alliance—"

"Listen, Mr. Keeler," she began, but he slammed his hands on her desk and looked like he might push the computer and datapads off it in a fit.

"—I have a meeting with the salarians and I _need_ you to sell me some stims." He sighed, an attempt to calm himself, Arin judged.

"Mr. Keeler, I'm sorry but I cannot sell you any more stims. I'm going to ask you to leave or I'll have to call C-Sec. But please, seek help." He gurgled out a frustrated scream. While it would have been easier for Arin to take the man down with a little self-defense, it was the doctor's policy to call C-Sec whenever a patient became the least bit hostile and she had to respect it.

"Look I'm sorry, alright?" He pushed on the desk and straightened his back. "I'm just a little on edge because of this meeting. How about you just sell me the stims? I pay and be on my way. Okay? Great."

"Mr. Keeler, get help. You have a problem and there's nothing we can do for you here. Please leave."

He screamed something incomprehensible, and closed their distance with a finger pointed at her face. The man had no time to continue with whatever his plan was, because another man appeared and yanked him back. She hadn't seen him, or the krogan standing near him enter, much less approach the scene.

"The lady asked you to leave," the new man said, tightening his grip on the addict's shoulder. "Are you going to listen, or does my krogan have to make you listen?" The man, in a sharp fitted suit, turned Keeler around by his shirt so he could get a better look at the armed krogan. "Scram."

Not a second after he spotted the other man's guard, did the addict go, "Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I'll go, damn it." He left, with an urging push from the man in the suit, like a scared dog with its tail between its legs- something Arin was grateful for, even if she could have handled him on her own.

"Thanks," she said sheepishly. Only then did she fully take in the remainder of the situation. There was a man, in a nice suit, with an armed krogan. He couldn't have been a salesman because the krogan would just scare any potential customers, so what was the deal? "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Chloe here?" he asked her, looking off to the side, like he didn't much care about his question to begin with.

"Pardon?" Her mind blanked for a moment, realizing too late who he'd meant.

"The doctor, she in?"

"Oh, she should be here shortly. But if you let me know what you need, I may be able to help you while she gets here."

He walked to her and smiled sweetly. He was taller and stockier than her initial calculation said. She could see the fabric of his suit stretch where his muscles were. It wasn't just that he was wearing a fitted suit; this man clearly worked out. "Yeah, maybe you can." He took a step closer, too close, really. His closeness almost obscured her view, but she was still able to tell the krogan had turned from the pair and toward the door.

"You another doctor?"

"No, I'm a nurse."

"Very nice. You should wear one of those old time nurse uniforms from Earth. You know the ones?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Maybe I'll get you one. "

"The doctor will be here soon," she reminded him, "If there's nothing I can do for you."

"Oh I'm sure there's plenty you can do for me."

Arin felt her guts twist. Didn't Garrus usually show up around this time?

"You have any idea who you work for, Miss?"

"Doctor Michel is an exemplar in the local community," she said coolly, doing her very best not to give him a tight-lipped answer. She had a bad feeling about this guy, but she wasn't about to show him how scared she was quickly becoming. Where was that damned turian?

"That what you think?" She nodded at his question. "Hm. Well, she's not all she's cracked up to be, believe me." The man scoffed, and Arin wondered if he thought what he'd said was funny. "Tell me, how did a pretty thing like you end up having to work in this part of the wards?"

She looked away for an instant; the proximity between them was beginning to intimidate her, and she'd hate for him to notice. She tried to relax, but it was just so much easier to handle someone angry or that wanted to do harm… This, she didn't know what to do with whatever this was. "I enjoy working here."

"_Do_ you now? I could find something better for you to do, if you're interested." Her eyes flung up to his and he winked. He actually had the gall to wink.

"Is there something you needed?"

He inched closer and leaned in to whisper, but Arin leaned back. No way in hell she'd _step_ back because she had to stand her ground, she just hoped what she'd done instead would deter him. But it didn't. "Tell Chloe her friend Banes stopped by and that I won't wait much longer." His warm breath was like an unwanted touch.

But with all her senses still intact, she picked up some commotion going on at the front of the clinic. "You can't come in, this is a private session!" the krogan yelled.

The man straightened himself and waited until Arin did the same to reach forward and tuck a curl behind her ear. The nurse snapped her hand towards his to stop him, but he was quicker and with his other hand grabbed hers and used it to pull her body to his. A quick glance told Arin his krogan had more bark than bite, something the man must not have expected.

"Don't forget to give her the message." His free hand snaked down behind her and gave her ass a little squeeze, causing Arin to freeze.

"Hands up or I'll shoot."

The man's head spun toward the cause of interruption so quickly that there was no way he didn't hurt himself in the process, and his body soon followed. He scoffed but he did as he was told, barely, putting his hands up defensively for a second before bring them down to his sides.

"_Step away_," Garrus ordered. His voice brought her back from her trance and she took a step back without thinking.

"There a problem, Officer?" Banes asked, too innocently to be believed.

"There will be if you don't step away."

The turian walked toward the two, never taking his eyes off the man named Banes, who stepped away from Arin reluctantly. He must have taken the threat as good.

"Relax, turian. Just saying goodbye to a friend."

"Really? Because it looked to me like you were harassing the good nurse while your krogan kept watch," Garrus said, wedging himself between Arin and the man, blocking most of her view.

Banes chuckled, and casually walked to the side so he could get a better look at the nurse. "Ask her if you don't believe," he suggested, looking at her pointedly.

She knew better than to say anything that would disagree with Bane's previous statement, but she refused to be bullied into submission. "I've never met this man in my life," she replied, with her heart at her throat.

The man's face drooped for a second, like he had trouble processing that someone had denied him something for once.

"Get the hell out before I take you in."

"For what? I didn't do anything, right, sweetheart?" he asked her like he was giving her a second chance, one she refused to acknowledge.

"You wanna see how many counts I can frame you and your krogan for? You'll be poor by the time your lawyer gets you out."

Banes laughed, it was a dry and short type of laugh that sent a shiver down Arin's back. "We're goin', turian. Wouldn't want you to do all that paperwork for nothing. " He started to talk away to the exit, but turned his head to say, "Don't forget about my offer," to Arin just before he completely disappeared from view.

The various zings and other sounds of a compressing gun filled her ears. Garrus set his rifle back in its place on his armor, but he remained with his back still to her for moments longer. She could see his breathing was even, obviously he was a lot more calm and collected than she was. Or at least she thought so before her ears picked up what seemed to be a low thrumming growl coming from the turian.

She was going to thank him, despite anger settling in where fear had just been, but he walked out without a word. Not a 'how are you?' or an 'I'll be right back' or even a chance to be thanked. Not a damned word. She was left alone, to wallow in self-disgust.


End file.
